


The Boy at the Rock Show

by murder_boots365



Category: EXO (Band), Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Oneshot, Punk Rock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 11:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4057810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murder_boots365/pseuds/murder_boots365





	The Boy at the Rock Show

 

The end of the summer was drawing near, which nobody particularly looked forward to, unless you were very interested in academics, or, like Park Chanyeol, you were in a punk band and there was a huge Battle of the Bands show the week before classes started.

  
Chanyeol was the drummer of a three-piece group that called themselves Heart Attack. Alongside Chanyeol was Jongin on bass, and Ryeowook who played guitar and was the main vocalist. They’d been playing together for two years, despite being in different grades (and in Ryeowook’s case, having just graduated from a different school), and last year had won this particular Battle of the Bands, hosted by Oppa!, Ryeowook’s friends’ band. Even if they didn’t know who they were up against yet, they were confident that they would be able to defend their title.   
  
They’d practice together at least twice a week, usually in Chanyeol’s garage (drums were a bitch to move), and occasionally played other smaller shows with a couple other local groups at various venues – including one show at a church hall that ended up actually being in the hallway, because nothing said punk rock like being crammed in a hallway when there was a perfectly acceptable rec room next door to set up the stage – and otherwise spent their time doing the usual punk kid stuff, like eating pizza while playing video games, skateboarding and generally causing a ruckus in public places, and drinking the occasional beer whenever Oppa!’s lead guitarist Eunhyuk was feeling indulgent and used his actually-legal-because-he-was-old-ID to pick some up for everyone.   
  
About two weeks before the show, Heart Attack was wrapping up another jam session and just dicking around – Chanyeol practicing his drumstick twirling tricks and occasionally whacking stuff, Jongin playing nothing in particular and essentially just making noise, Ryeowook actually tuning his guitar with his amp turned off – when all three of their cell phones went off at once. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at one another before Chanyeol dropped his sticks and reached for his phone on top of a milk crate next to the hi-hats. Jongin and Ryeowook had fished theirs out of their pockets and the three of them buried their noses in the screens to figure out what was up.   
  
“Oh! The lineup has been announced! Finally,” Chanyeol exclaimed. He tapped the notification to load up the Battle of the Bands event page and check out the competition.   


 

  
**4 th Annual End of Summer Battle of the Bands!**  
**Hosted By Oppa!**  
**_New post by: EUNHYUK_**  
Hey everyone, we’ve finally got the lineup straightened out for the 4 th BotB show on 27 August! Get pumped! There are 10 bands altogether, including:   
·         Last year’s winner HEART ATTACK   
·         THE PIXELS, last year’s runners-up looking for the win   
·         GOTHSTOMPERS, who debuted shortly after the 3rd BotB  
·         GIRLGEN 999, a kickass all-girl squad   
·         BAND NAME HERE, crowd pleasers since February’s Snowball Shenanigans  
·         ZERO SUM, back together and out for blood   
·         2 MOONS, Chinese imports, new on the Seoul scene  
·         BRAINBLEED, a horrorpunk group to shake things up  
·         RED LIGHT, some seriously hardcore ladies  
·         THE DAGGERS, long-time players, first-time competitors

Don’t forget: doors at 12, show starts 1; get in early! Cover $5.

“What the fuck is horrorpunk?” Jongin scoffed. There was a beat of silence; then, everyone burst out laughing.  
  
“I guess we’ll find out,” Ryeowook said once he caught his breath, “but in any case, I’m not too worried about anyone on this list.”   
  
“I don’t know either of the girl groups,” Chanyeol piped up, “and who the hell is 2 Moons?”   
  
“Red Light is new, I think, and GirlGen 999 are pretty good, but nothing to be concerned about,” Jongin said. “And it sounds like 2 Moons hasn’t played any shows yet.”   
  
“Has Oppa! even heard them play, or did they just show up and say “Hey, we’re a band, can we play in your show?” and get signed on as an excuse to keep Donghae’s ex’s band off the list?” Chanyeol’s comment brought more laughter from the group, before Ryeowook’s phone went off again.   
  
Ryeowook glanced at the screen. “Email from Donghae, speak of the devil.” He opened it up. “He says BRAINBLEED – apparently they insist on capital letters at all times – were added for a laugh, especially because Gothstompers will hate them and that will be hilarious. The girl groups are good, Red Light might be trouble for us.  Zero Sum has actually stopped arguing long enough to get their shit together, but probably aren’t a problem. We should be worried about The Daggers and 2 Moons, who haven’t even played live yet that he’s aware of but he says their lead singer gave them a demo and they’re actually really good, despite appearances. Otherwise we’re OK.”   
  
Chanyeol was glad they were friends with the host band – or at least that Ryeowook was, and he and Jongin were on good terms with them by extension. Oppa! was hands-off for judging the Battle of the Bands shows, but could be counted on to give Heart Attack a bit of an edge by giving them a heads-up on what to expect. He wasn’t worried about most of the groups listed, but The Daggers were a well-established group and though it was weird for them to be competing in a thing like this – they never did – they were a really tight group and had great presence. He wondered about 2 Moons and what Donghae meant by “despite appearances,” and was curious if a band that’d never played live before could really be that much of a threat. He picked up his sticks again and put his phone back on the milk crate, then hit the kick drum a couple times to get his bandmates’ attention so they could get back to practice.   
  
-  
  
The bands arrived at 11:00 in order to get the details on how the show was going to run, which was pretty informally, but still structured enough to not be complete chaos, and to do a very quick soundcheck. It was also a good opportunity to check out the competition, and Chanyeol and his bandmates got to see what Donghae meant in his email about the other groups.   
  
BRAINBLEED was dressed in a mix of goth & punk style clothes, only much more tattered and with a liberal application of fake blood and weird vampire sort of makeup. A brief chat with one of the members, however, revealed that they actually didn’t take themselves seriously at all, and were “in it for the LOL factor,” as he’d said. Gothstompers was definitely not amused, however, even though they were dressed slightly more gothic than BRAINBLEED and took themselves extremely seriously. Both of the girl groups were fairly casually dressed, with some ripped jeans and a few short skirts with fishnets and boots and assorted loose patterned shirts, and were getting along quite well. The rest of the bands blended together more or less, with a variety of plaid, leather, denim, and assorted studs and chains, and it was only because they’d seen them all before that they were able to distinguish between groups. Even if that hadn’t been the case, Chanyeol was quite certain that 2 Moons would have stood out.   
  
The four of them were dressed like a pop group’s idea of what punk was, and they all had a collective “look” – all in black skinny jeans, with orderly horizontal rips from thigh to ankle but with black fabric underneath so the skin didn’t show through, and similar black leather jackets with various silver hardware. All of their hair was too deliberately messy-looking, and one of the members was wearing, of all things, a Rolling Stones tank top under his jacket. Chanyeol exchanged glances with Ryeowook and Jongin, their expressions all saying the same thing: “You have got to be kidding me.” Everyone had put a little effort into their appearances, naturally, but the four members of 2 Moons looked so done up they seemed a little ridiculous.   
  
The hour before the doors opened went by fairly quickly, and the bands hung out near the stage, in two groups of five bands on either side. They were to go head-to-head in twos, determined by drawing lots once every group had arrived, and after each group had played a winner for the round was determined by crowd response. Heart Attack was to face off against The Daggers, and the three of them were actually a little nervous. They’d planned out what songs they’d play but were discussing strategy of song order, a lot more seriously than if they’d been paired with anyone else.   
  
As if it had been planned, Gothstompers and BRAINBLEED were the first two bands to face off, and after each of their short sets, BRAINBLEED was actually voted to go ahead, much to Gothstompers’ chagrin. Chanyeol couldn’t blame them for gathering their gear and leaving, though if he was honest they were way too full of themselves and not all that good, anyway.   
  
Next was Red Light and Band Name Here – both good, but the crowd was just a bit louder for the Red Light girls, so they went ahead. So did GirlGen 999, who faced off against the (squabbling) Zero Sum. Then it was their turn, but a coin toss determined they’d go second after The Daggers. During the set, they re-evaluated their song choices, and Chanyeol secretly hoped one of the guitarists would break a string or the singer would swallow a bee, or something.   
  
Of course, neither of the above happened, and they were great. Heart Attack took the stage, nervous but determined.   
  
Their first song was one of their newer ones that had been very well received the few times they’d played it live, and the crowd were appreciative, though from the stage it was hard to tell how loud they were by comparison. Ryeowook held the last note on his guitar and exchanged a glance with Jongin, who looked at Chanyeol, who nodded and looked to Ryeowook, then stood up from the drums. Ryeowook had taken off his guitar and handed it to Jongin, who was holding his bass by the neck in one hand. Chanyeol handed Ryeowook the drumsticks, took Jongin’s bass, and once they’d settled in with their new instruments began playing a new, fast song that they’d never played before – Chanyeol had called it “Rocket Dive”, and the others insisted that he’d have to sing it, even if that meant switching instruments, which they figured would be fun for the crowd to witness, too, and they all had the skills to pull it off. And pull it off they did; the crowd had buzzed excitedly as they’d made the switch and was absolutely electrified when they started to play and Chanyeol had started to sing. When they finished they were met with wild applause and cheers, and they were beaming from ear to ear as they switched back to their usual instruments for one last short song. When Donghae had come up to get the crowd to make noise for each group, the auditorium was flooded with cheers for Heart Attack. The three of them high fived one another in turn and The Daggers came up to express their complete lack of surprise and praise them on their set as Donghae announced that they were to go through.   
  
The last pair was The Pixels and 2 Moons, and they were playing in that order. Chanyeol knew what to expect from The Pixels and so didn’t pay much attention to their set, instead choosing to inspect 2 Moons, who were against the wall next to the stage and had actually shown interest in every group that had played so far, probably getting a feel for the K-punk scene.   
  
Of the four of them, two were quite tall, the others not so much. One of the tall ones and Rolling Stones Shirt both looked vaguely feline, though Tall Cat Guy also looked like he knew at least ten ways to murder someone using his thumb, while Rolling Stones Shirt looked relaxed and quietly radiant. (“What the fuck was that?” he asked his brain, frowning. Jongin gave him an odd look.) The other tall guy looked like he was posing for a magazine with an expression of careful studiousness as he watched the stage, and the last band member had such gentle features Chanyeol wondered how he was actually into punk rock; though, Ryeowook wasn’t exactly the toughest-looking, either, so he guessed he’d find out.   
  
… And boy, did he ever find out. It seems like Heart Attack weren’t the only ones not expecting much from the guys that looked like a mandopop group, but wow, they could  _play_. Model Guy was killer on the drums, while Tall Assassin Cat shredded his guitar with expert skill and Can’t-Possibly-Be-Punk was rock solid on the bass, and though his voice was still on the gentle side he was a good fit as a supporting vocalist.   
  
And Rolling Stones Shirt… well. He was the vocalist, and his voice soared over the crowd and his energy was astonishing. Overall, 2 Moons had incredible presence, and the singer – who introduced himself as Chen in the short space between songs – was the perfect centrepiece, and Chanyeol felt a little starstruck, despite himself. When they finished their set he found himself cheering and clapping wildly, which earned him a surprised look from his bandmates, though they were also clapping with relative enthusiasm, and not one of them was shocked when Eunhyuk asked for the crowd’s verdict, which was overwhelmingly 2 Moons.   
  
And then there were five – both girl groups, BRAINBLEED, Heart Attack, and the decidedly troubling 2 Moons. Eunhyuk was starting to explain how things were going to go down in this next half but was distracted by something across the room, which was BRAINBLEED making a hasty exit with their gear, and Donghae heading from the doors, where he saw them out, to the stage to announce that one of the members just got a call and had an emergency at home to attend to, so they had to drop out. A wave of soft murmers and sympathetic noises passed through the crowd and the mood dropped a little, but soon picked up again when Eunhyuk started speaking again, saying that it did simplify things a bit and they’d just have two pairs go head to head again, and then a final showdown between the last two.   
  
By chance – although to Chanyeol it felt like some kind of cheesy cosmic setup, or something straight out of a bad movie – each of the boy groups were set against one of the girl groups, which he knew that they’d both beat, even if GirlGen 999 and Red Light were talented. He sighed and looked at the ceiling with a dopey smile playing about his face.   
Ryeowook punched him in the arm. “Yo, Earth to Chanyeol, we’re up first!” He gave him a look that told him to get his shit together, and the three of them took to the stage.   
  
Despite having pulled the proverbial ace out of their sleeve with “Rocket Dive”, their second short set went really well, and Red Light didn’t follow them with enough strength to beat them out. Similarly, though GirlGen 999 had a strong set, 2 Moons followed them with too much stage presence and charisma to be defeated, which made the Heart Attack boys very, very nervous. Chanyeol also found himself feeling uncomfortable for a different reason: namely, Chen. He was glad his bandmates already knew he was gay and that the punk scene in general was open to all orientations (it had been partly what had drawn him to it). Jongin did smack him once during 2 Moons’ second set, though, and jokingly told him to be “a bit less gay until we win, then you can get his number. Stay focused, man.” To which Chanyeol had responded that if Jongin hadn’t been straight he’d be having the exact same problem. “True,” Jongin answered. “I can definitely appreciate where you’re coming from. At least you have good taste.” They had a good laugh about it, while Ryeowook was in his own world watching the guitar player’s hands with considerable interest, which was purely professional knowing Ryeowook; he’d be going to music school in the fall.   
  
Once the final two bands had been decided, the rest of Oppa! took to the stage – the first time second guitarist Kyuhyun and drummer Shindong had been onstage during the afternoon – and played one song, before Donghae announced that it was time for the final two bands to play one last song each. “Make it good, guys, because this will be what decides which band wins this Battle of the Bands show, and oh yeah, did we mention the prize is a giant pizza and a 25, 000 won gift card for that awesome record shop in Hongdae?” There was a smattering of applause and a few enthusiastic whoops from the crowd. The band laughed. “Yeah, we finally stopped being broke,” Eunhyuk added. Everyone but Donghae left the stage and he waved the remaining competing groups onto the stage, where he informed everyone that they’d play rock-paper-scissors and the best two out of three would decide who played first. He asked the group leaders to step forward, and Ryeowook and Chen moved ahead, one fist resting on an open palm. Ryeowook’s paper beat Chen’s rock, but then Chen won with rock again when Ryeowook played scissors. The last round saw Chen winning in a scissors vs. paper throw. Donghae took the mic off the stand and asked Chen, “So who goes first?” before holding the mic towards him.   
  
“Actually, we’d like Heart Attack to decide who plays first, since they are the ones defending a title.” Chen’s Korean was perfect. Chanyeol had noticed that their lyrics were mostly Korean, and though Tall Assassin Cat and Surprisingly-Actually-Punk had accents when they sang backup, Chen had none. He supposed Chen must have been studying Korean for a while longer than the others before coming here.   
  
Ryeowook consulted with Jongin and Chanyeol and decided that, even if it was risky given that 2 Moons had proven a tough act to follow, they’d perform last. Ryeowook moved towards Donghae and said into the outstretched mic, “We will play second,” making a motion of deferral towards 2 Moons with his hand. The bands left the stage while Donghae said a few words to excite the crowd before 2 Moons returned with their instruments and plugged in.   
  
“Hello everyone, this song is called Uprising, and it’s one of our favourites so we hope you enjoy it!” Chen said into the mic.   
  
Immediately when they started to play, Heart Attack knew that it wouldn’t have made a difference what order they had gone in, because the song that 2 Moons played might have been short, but it blew them completely out of the water. It was obvious before that Chen was a great singer, but he really showed off his vocal range with some incredible high notes, and the call-and-answer style of the second verse was, quite frankly, amazing. As they finished, Chen singing the line from which the song title had come, Chanyeol knew that 2 Moons had won, and also that he was going to have great difficulty forgetting about this band anytime soon. He exchanged some downcast looks with his bandmates, and they put their heads together while 2 Moons disconnected from the amps, took a bow, and left the stage, and when Eunhyuk took the mic to announce Heart Attack, Chanyeol had stepped up in the lead and took the mic and said, “Actually, we’re very confident that 2 Moons should win this, and so we’ve decided to concede the victory to them without question, because they definitely deserve it.” There was a mixture of surprise, disappointment, and excited sounds from the crowd, and as Eunhyuk took the mic back to ask if they were sure, Chen had come back up to the stage from the other end saying, “No, no!” He was handed the mic and said, “No, no, thank you, but we will only accept a victory if you play for us, because we really enjoy your music and even if you don’t feel like you can measure up I believe you’re more than good enough to play. What do you guys think?” he shouted to the crowd, who responded with cheering and applause. Chanyeol felt a blush creep up his neck – so punk rock – as Chen led the crowd in a chant of “One more song! One more song!” The members of Heart Attack exchanged grins and Ryeowook gestured for the mic and said that they’d be glad to play for them, even though they didn’t take the title. Jongin leaned over his shoulder to add, “And only if we get to share the pizza,” which brought laughter from the crowd and Chen, also laughing, nodded his agreement. Everyone left the stage, and Heart Attack returned with their instruments to play one more song.   
  
Afterwards, the members of Oppa! came up to the stage, made the official announcement of 2 Moons as the victors, and presented them with their gift certificate and what was possibly the largest pizza box that Chanyeol had seen and would ever see, he thought. The members accepted graciously and Chen thanked everyone for their overwhelming and “heartwarming” (yes, he said that) support, and that they were excited to play with some of their fellow contenders in the future. They left the stage, and Oppa! started in on a new song. Chen beckoned to Heart Attack and he and his bandmates moved to go outside, where there were picnic tables. Chanyeol, heart in his throat, went after them, staying a little behind Jongin and Ryeowook as he was having some difficulty catching his breath.   
  
One picnic table wasn’t quite enough space, so the drummer dragged over another one so that everyone could sit comfortably. Introductions were then made – Chanyeol introduced Ryeowook and Jongin, and Chen introduced his bandmates: Zitao was the guitarist, Yixing the bass player, and Yifan aka Kris the drummer. They traded “nice to meet you”s before settling comfortably into conversation and pizza consumption.   
  
When Chanyeol was halfway through his second slice and had finally gotten his nerves in order, he said to Chen, who was  _right next to him_  (and he definitely wasn’t just a tiny bit anxious about that), “Your Korean is excellent, by the way.”   
  
Unexpectedly, Chen burst out laughing, as did the other three members of 2 Moons. Chanyeol was bewildered and a little embarrassed, even if he couldn’t tell what was so funny about his statement, while Jongin and Ryeowook just looked at one another and at Chanyeol with mild confusion.   
  
Yixing was the first to catch his breath and said, “He actually is Korean. He’s the only one, though.”   
  
Chanyeol swallowed thickly. “Oh. Uh. Wow. That’s embarrassing.”   
  
Chen had quieted down and said reassuringly, “You couldn’t have known, don’t worry about it,” and flashed him a smile that was far too charming, and Chanyeol felt his face heat up again when Chen patted his knee gently, chuckling softly.   
  
“Ahhhhh…” Chanyeol was only slightly less mortified and was very relieved when Jongin piped up with a question about what schools everyone was going to and how old they all were, which started the general chatter going again. Chanyeol brushed his hair back with his less-greasy fingers and sighed.   
  
His relief was short-lived, though, when Chen prodded him in the side with a “Hey” and Chanyeol turned to find him looking directly into his face, which only took him aback because he really was attractive, especially up close, even if now he was somewhat more disheveled and sweaty from performing. He had a mischievous glint in his eye and a smile playing about his lips. He reached out a hand towards Chanyeol. “Give me your phone,” he said, flapping his hand to emphasise his demand.   
  
“What? My phone?” He was getting it out of his pocket despite his confusion.   
  
“Yeah, your phone. Thanks,” Chen said as the phone was placed on his palm. He pushed a button to illuminate the screen, then turned it towards Chanyeol. “Unlock it for me.”   
  
“What for? Why?” But even as he asked he was taking his phone back and keying in the code before handing it back. Chen started pushing buttons while holding the phone away from Chanyeol. “What are you doing?”   
  
Chen didn’t answer, only continuing to fiddle with the device before presenting it to Chanyeol with a triumphant look on his face. “Here.”   
  
He’d angled the screen so Chanyeol could see that it was open to a new contact in his phone. He read the name out loud – “Kim Jongdae” – and looked at Chen for an explanation.   
  
“That’s my number. You should call me sometime,” Chen –  _Jongdae_  – told him. “I have a feeling that we should see more of each other, and I don’t mean just at shows.”   
  
Chanyeol blinked at him for a moment before a broad grin made its way onto his face. “I think so, too.” His heart was fluttering in his chest (very punk rock.)   
  
Jongdae nodded, grinning back. “Good. Something tells me we have a lot in common,” he said, reaching for another slice of pizza with one hand and slinking the other one around Chanyeol’s elbow so that their arms were linked. “Now, eat up,” he said, bringing the slice he’d grabbed close to Chanyeol’s face. Chanyeol gaped at him before accepting the slice with his free hand and taking a cautious bite.   
  
“Uh, thanks,” he said, and dammit, he wasn’t blushing again, really.   
  
Jongdae laughed again, a slightly harsh but joyful sound. “No problem.” He reached for his own slice. “By the way –” he took a bite “– I am actually flirting with you, in case you weren’t sure.”   
  
Chanyeol nearly choked on his pizza but miraculously recovered quickly. “Ok. Yes, good. I’m… glad?” Maybe he hadn’t quite recovered yet.   
  
“So you’ll definitely call me sometime, right?” Jongdae asked, with the mischievous look back on his face.   
  
Chanyeol swallowed his food. “Yes,” he said, beaming. “Definitely, yes.”


End file.
